The Guardian
by Persona15
Summary: Percy Jackson blames himself when Annabeth dies. Broken, he sets himself on a journey to protect others from the harm he felt as a demigod. He becomes known as the Guardian of the Universe, the only salvation for the scared and weak in an universe filled with evil and greed.


_Percy Jackson, it's characters and its plots belong to Rick Riordan and Disney-Hyperion_

All Percy Jackson saw was monsters. The deep red toxic smoke that wafted throughout Tartarus may have blurred the dark emotionless eyes of some, but they were still there. He could see them far above in the cavern, flying and sometimes he could even make out faint roars of anger or pain. Underneath him he could feel an almost inaudible _Thump Thump_ of the certain primordial that ruled this hellish place. Everything was evil, perhaps even Percy himself was. He sure as hades had felt evil while controlling the poison to kill that monster, and he knew in his heart that he was just as bad as any of them. It hurt him so much that Annabeth had to see him like that but, it was necessary for both of their survival- and if not both then at least Annabeth's. Percy knew he would do anything for Annabeth to be safe. She was the one beautiful thing in this terrible place and like many beautiful things Percy would protect her from any harm she would face. That is why Percy knew that for her to be safe, he had to be strong. Stronger than he had ever been before or anyone who had come before him. He had to get her home.

Percy had carried an unconscious Annabeth for a few hours and he was getting tired. She had been knocked unconscious by the last monster they had fought and had been out cold since. There was a bump on her head and he hated himself for letting it happen to her. He had been walking along the River of Styx for hours and had finally found a big enough rock to hide behind, so he would be somewhat sheltered from the prying eyes of monsters. He laid her down next to the rock and began his first watch.

Scanning his horizon, he had seen some bird-like creatures so, Percy put his hand in his pocket to feel for riptide, just in case they were spotted. He watched the birds so intently that he didn't hear the low growl of a hellhound until it was too late. He turned sharply taking out his pen and uncapped it, just in time for the hellhound to swipe its paws where his head had just been. Percy stood up and finally got a good look at the beast, it was bigger than any hellhound he had ever seen by a lot. Its canines seemed a lot bigger and the 6-inch claws looked like they could shred him up. It also had a cloak made of what looked like another hellhound's pelt on its back. The hellhound turned in his direction and as soon as he caught sight of its beady eyes, they started to glow a bright red. Percy had never seen a monster move so fast, so when it lunged at Annabeth who was still unconscious next to him, he reacted. Thinking back to it Percy knew that he probably could have killed the hellhound, but something in it's eyes just reminded him so much of Mrs. O'leary. With a single swipe of it's paws Annabeth was thrown in the River of Styx, and forgetting about the beast Percy Jackson jumped right in after her. He could not let her feel the same pain he had felt as a 16-year-old, swimming in the River of Styx.

In that second, he saw many things in the river of Styx. His dreams and wishes. Hopes and belief's. A magnificent golden engagement ring engraved with words of love. A hug from his father and mother, both looking happy. Gabe saying sorry for his constant abuse against his mother and Paul calling him son. Gaea exploding into a million gold flecks that scattered across the universe. Then there was a woman. With hair of a million strands of the purest gold and skin as flawless as a piece of blank white paper. She had high cheek bones along with a delicate mouth that was singing to what Percy thought was a lullaby. Next to him stood a man that Percy recognized as himself. He was holding a baby girl and calling her his daughter with eyes filled with love and happiness. That woman was Annabeth. Floating in the River of Styx. The river that dreams go to die. He knew then that Annabeth was gone and with that he felt a tiny bit of himself dying too and he did not understand why the river at that moment decided to spit him out. He just wanted to be with Annabeth. So, he closed his eyes and let death await him-whether it be by monster or river- he cared not.

Nico could feel it when someone close to him died. He felt it when Bianca died, and he felt it when his mother died. He felt it again now and it made him scared. His stomach dropped out underneath him and he immediately thought, Percy. Percy and Annabeth were in Tartarus, the home of monsters Nico knew that even though he had only been in there for a few hours he still had nightmares about it. He couldn't even imagine what Percy and Annabeth were going through.

Then another though came through his mind,

 _What if Will was the one who died?_

Nico and Will had gone on their first date a couple weeks back and It had been amazing. They had gone on a hike and had walked through fields of flowers for hours. They had explored a cave where he had showed Will all sorts of minerals and Will had babbled on for hours about medical properties of different plants. It was the best feeling ever, being important to someone.

He still hadn't told anyone but Will that he was gay, but at ever chance he got he would look up at the stars and tell Bianca what was going on, he believed her to be his one sole confident. He hoped that Will could one day be that person for him.

He took out a drachma and iris messaged Will, praying to every god he knew of that it would patch through. He waited and waited before turning around and trying to stop his tears, but they streamed down his face.

"Nico are you crying?"

Nico whirled around and saw Will in the iris message. "I thought you were dead."

Will started and exclaimed, "Why would you ever think I was dead? I was helping out in the infirmary! I thought you didn't want anyone to know about us?"

"I don't but someone died. I could feel someone dying and it was someone close to me!" Nico yelled, but then spoke in a much quitter voice, "I don't have very many people who are close to me."

"You'll always have me Nico."

Oh, how did Nico wish that was true.

When Hades saw _Annabeth Chase_ on his iPad he thought someone had made a mistake. That girl and the boy, Percy Jackson had been through it all. He admitted that he liked them, some of the few demigods he had ever. He didn't even always like his children. Hitler especially, always up to no good. He clogged up the EZ death lines for years, and there were quite a few children. Hades hated when children died. Although Hades would admit, he like Nico and Hazel a lot. Both were heroes and had made him respected in the godly community again. He looked at his iPad again to see were she would be placed and when he saw River of Styx next to her name he angry. The girl had taken a dip in the Styx and hadn't made it. The river had taken control of her soul and she would never earn Elysium or the Isles of the Blessed. Her soul had been lost. He couldn't imagine what Percy Jackson would do when he found out. Believe it or not you would be hard pressed not to find a god who was afraid of Percy Jackson.

When Percy opened his eyes again he knew he was not in Tartarus anymore. This place looked quite similar to Tartarus, but the sky was not a blood red- it was green. Which was odd because Percy was quite positive that nowhere on earth- mythological or mortal had green skies.

 _Posted January 30, 2018_

 _Hopefully I update sometime soon with a longer and more interesting chapter. I hope you liked it and you leave critiquing and advice for what I should include- whether that be scenes or OCs. Mostly because I suck at making up my own characters and that's why I'm writing fanfiction and not an original novel. Although I've read a crap ton of Percy Jackson fanfiction, so I kinda know what people like and do not like and who doesn't ship solangelo?_

~Persona15


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